General election in Bangladesh 2014
The parliamentary election in Bangladesh in 2014 was the election for the 10th parliament of Bangladesh and took place on January 5, 2014. In the election, the ruling Awami League won 78% of the seats and thus a two-thirds majority in parliament. The Jatiya Party took just under 12% of the parliamentary seats. The remaining 10% are split between five smaller parties and independent candidates. The election was boycotted by the largest opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allied parties. The turnout was estimated at 20 to a maximum of 40%. Exact figures have not yet been published by the Bangladeshi election commission (status 02/2016).
Background and history
In 1996 a regulation was included in the Bangladeshi constitution, according to which a government had to hand over the business of government to a “ caretaker government ” three months before an election date . This regulation was intended to prevent election manipulation by the incumbent government. However, this amendment has been challenged several times in court since its introduction. The main point of criticism was that a government should be set up that was not legitimized by a vote of the electorate. In 2011, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruled that the provision was indeed unconstitutional, but at the same time allowed the rule to be retained in the next two elections. The latter was also a concession to public opinion in Bangladesh, where the scheme was popular. The government of the Awami League under Sheikh Hasina , which had been in office since 2008 and had a two-thirds majority in parliament, suspended the aforementioned regulation in June 2011 with the 15th amendment , citing the court ruling. The main argument for this was the fact that the transitional government installed before the last elections in 2006 had declared a state of emergency and then remained in office for a full 2 years instead of the planned 3 months. The 2008 parliamentary election took place two years later than planned.
The repeal of the “trustee regulation” met with violent protests from the opposition. On October 18, 2013, three months before the planned election date, Prime Minister Hasina proposed the formation of an all-party government under her leadership. This was rejected by the opposition parties.
The protests against the government intensified after opposition politicians were sentenced to death by the government-appointed International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh for their involvement in war crimes in connection with the War of Independence in 1971 and some were executed in November / December 2013 had been. This particularly affected politicians from the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami . Its leader, Abdul Quader Molla , was hanged in Dhaka on December 12, 2013 after his initial life sentence was commuted to a death sentence. The long-time parliamentarian of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and multiple minister Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was also executed in the same way on November 22, 2015 after a trial in which, according to Western observers, elementary principles of the rule of law were not observed. The opposition described the trials and executions as politically motivated.
The leading opposition party BNP under Khaleda Zia called for an election boycott on the grounds that freedom of choice was not guaranteed and the results were allegedly falsified. Khaled Zia was then placed under house arrest for two weeks from December 25, 2013 at the behest of the government. Hussain Muhammad Ershad , leader of the Jatiya Party , the third largest party in Bangladesh, made several U-turns. In October 2013 he called for an election boycott, then declared himself ready in November to participate in an all-party government and then again in December 2013 to promote the election boycott. In the end, the Jatiya Party took part in the election under the leadership of his wife Rowshan Ershad ; Hussain Muhammad Ershad also defended his seat.
Electoral system
The Parliament of Bangladesh has 350 members. 300 MPs are elected according to the simple majority vote in as many one-person constituencies . The last redistribution of the constituencies according to the changed population situation took place in 2008. 50 more seats are reserved for women, who are elected by the elected members according to the votes of the parties. The 15th amendment to the Constitution from 2011 increased the number of indirectly elected women from 45 to 50.
Election and election result
The election campaign in the weeks leading up to the elections was marked by continued violence between supporters of the Awami League and those of the BNP. More than 100 people were killed in the process and there was numerous property damage, for example to public transport, with high economic damage. International organizations refrained from sending election observers because the outcome of the election seemed clear due to the opposition's boycott. There were serious riots on election day. Over 20 people were killed and more than 130 polling stations set on fire.
Only 147 of the 300 constituencies were elected. In 153 (51%) of the 300 constituencies there were no opposing candidates. Here the candidates of the Awami League with their allied parties were simply confirmed without election. These 153 constituencies went to the following parties: 125 Awami League, 20 Jatiya Party (Ershad), 3 Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal , 2 Bangladesh Workers' Party , 1 Jatiya Party (Manju), 2 Independents (?). With regard to the 147 constituencies in which an election took place, the results of 139 constituencies were initially announced (105 Awami League, 13 Jatiya Party, 4 Workers Party, 2 JaSaD, 1 Tariqat Federation, 1 Bangladesh Nationalist Front, 13 Independents) the 8 constituencies of Dinajpur-4 , Kurigram-4 , Bogra-7 , Gaibandha-1 , 3 , 4 , Jessore-5 and Lakshmipur-1 were re-elected. On January 16, 2014, there was a by-election in 7 constituencies. The Jatiya Party candidate was successful in the Bogra-7 constituency, two Independents won in Gaibanda-4 and Jessore-5, and the Tariqat Federation candidate won in the Lakshmipur-1 constituency . Candidates from the Awami League triumphed in Gaibanda-1 , Gaibanda-3 , and Dinajpur-4 . In a by-election on January 23, 2014, the Jatiya Party candidate won the Kurigram-4 constituency .
Nationwide results
Official final results have not yet been published by the election commission of Bangladesh (status 02/2016).
| Political party | Constituencies / parliamentary seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| elected | no rival candidate |
Total seats |
% | Seats +/- |
|
| Awami League | 108 | 125 | 233 | 77.67 | +3 |
| Jatiya Party (Ershad) | 15th | 20th | 35 | 11.67 | +8 |
| Workers Party | 4th | 2 | 6th | 2.00 | +4 |
| Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1.67 | +2 |
| Jatiya Party (Manju) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.33 | +1 |
| Bangladesh Tariqat Federation | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.67 | +2 |
| Bangladesh Nationalist Front | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.33 | +1 |
| Independent | 15th | 2 | 17th | 5.67 | +11 |
| total | 147 | 153 | 300 | 100.0 | - |
| Source: Parliament of Bangladesh , IFES | |||||
The session of the newly elected parliament began on January 20, 2014.
Constituency cards
Election results in the constituencies. In the constituencies, which are shown in lighter colors, there was no election because only one candidate ran. These candidates were automatically considered elected.
Choice between multiple candidates Only one candidate, no choice
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Indirect election of 50 female MPs
Independent: 17 seats,
Jatiya Party (Manju): 1 seat,
Bangladesh Tariqat Federation: 2 seats,
Bangladesh Nationalist Front: 1 seat
On March 3, 2014, the 50 female MPs were elected, who had been nominated by the parties according to their proportional representation in parliament. The 50 seats were distributed as follows: Awami League 39, Jatiya Party 6, Workers Party 1, JSD 1, Independent 3.
Reactions to the election result and further developments
In view of the violent riots before the election and on election day, as well as the election boycott of almost all of the opposition, most western countries reacted with concern and disappointment. In a statement, the US State Department stated that the elections did not appear to credibly express the will of the people and called for new elections as soon as possible. Representatives of the European Union and Japan made similar statements. India responded more moderately. The current election was a constitutional necessity and Prime Minister Hasina made efforts to accommodate the opposition, but they rejected all compromises. This statement reflected India's traditionally closer relationship with the Awami League than with the opposition BNP. Russia also took a similar position.
Immediately after the election, the re-elected Hasina Wajed declared that new elections could take place at any time, provided there was an appropriate dialogue with the opposition. Such a dialogue did not take place. The long-standing personal animosity between Hasina Wajed and Khaleda Zia played an important role in this, which has made a constructive exchange impossible so far. The opposition, led by the BNP, insisted on new elections as soon as possible, while the government insisted on governing until the end of the legislative period. On January 5, 2015, opposition leader Zia called for a boycott of all road, rail and shipping lines in order to emphasize her demand for new elections. From January to March 2015, more than 100 people were killed in the unrest and serious damage to property occurred. The government described the opposition's actions as "terrorism". The ongoing political crisis continues to this day (as of 02/2016).
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Rupak Bhattacharjee: International Reactions to the Parliamentary Elections in Bangladesh. Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, January 28, 2014, accessed February 7, 2016 .
- ↑ Ashutosh Sarkar: Caretaker system declared illegal. The Daily Star, May 11, 2011, accessed February 3, 2016 .
- ^ A b Mapping Bangladesh's Political crisis. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Asia Report N ° 264. International Crisis Group, February 9, 2015, archived from the original on February 3, 2016 ; accessed on January 28, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c Alia Chughtai, Baba Umar, Saif Khalid: Infographic: High stakes in Bangladesh vote. Aljazeera, January 5, 2014, accessed January 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Bangladesh PM Hasina proposes all-party election cabinet. BBC News, October 18, 2013, accessed January 24, 2016 .
- ^ Matthew Pennington: US criticism grows over Bangladesh war crimes tribunal. Associated Press, November 20, 2015, accessed January 26, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Q&A: Bangladesh general elections. BBC News, January 3, 2014, accessed January 24, 2015 .
- ↑ Bangladesh MP Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury to hang for war crimes. BBC News, October 1, 2013, accessed January 24, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Bangladesh’s bitter election boycott. BBC News, January 3, 2014, accessed January 26, 2016 .
- ↑ Ellen Barryjan: Opposition Party Boycotting Bangladesh Election. The New York Times, January 4, 2014, accessed January 26, 2016 .
- ↑ Bangladesh frees Khaleda Zia after two weeks - supporters. Reuters, January 11, 2014, accessed January 26, 2016 .
- ^ THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH. Retrieved February 7, 2016 .
- ↑ Governing party wins controversial election. In: Spiegel Online. January 6, 2014, accessed January 20, 2015 .
- ↑ Reports on the election in Bangladesh on www.taz.de on December 30, 2013 and on January 4 , 5 and 6 , 2014
- ↑ Moinul Hoque Chowdhury, Shahidul Islam, Sajidul Haq, Ashik Hossain, Kazi Mobarak Hossain: Repolls ordered in 8 constituencies. bdnews24.com, January 6, 2014, accessed January 24, 2016 .
- ^ List of 10th Parliament Members. Parliament of Bangladesh, accessed January 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Elections 2014. Accessed on January 24, 2016 (English, very useful website of the Dhaka Tribune with a clickable constituency map, but not always the final results).
- ↑ re-polling in 7; AL wins 3. (No longer available online.) Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, February 25, 2014, archived from the original on February 25, 2016 ; accessed on February 25, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ JP (M) candidate wins Kurigram-4 seat. Star Online Report, January 26, 2014, accessed February 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Ninth session of Parliament to begin on Jan 20. bdnews24.com, January 4, 2014, accessed on January 24, 2016 (English).
- ↑ 50 women file papers for reserved parliament seats. Gulf Times, March 9, 2014, accessed February 7, 2016 .
- ↑ Bangladesh opposition leader Zia calls for blockade. BBC News, January 5, 2015, accessed February 7, 2016 .
